Sports

Gunn boys capture their second tournament hoop title

The Gunn boys won their second basketball tournament title of the season with a 69-64 victory over host Prospect in the finals of the Panther Invitational on Friday night. Photo courtesy of Gunn Basketball.

The Gunn boys will head into the new year and SCVAL De Anza Division season with a perfect basketball record after capturing the championship game of the Panther Invitational for the second straight season on Friday night.

With senior Alex Gil scoring 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, that Titans posted a 69-64 victory over host Prospect High. The Titans (6-0) also got 22 points from Jeffrey Lee-Heidenreich as they won their second tournament title of the season. Gil, who scored 69 points in three victories, was named the Most Valuable Player with Andre Augustin and Lee-Heidenreich joining him on the all-tournament team.

Elsewhere on Friday night:

In the annual rivalry game between Menlo-Atherton and Menlo School, M-A led wire to wire while positing a 55-34 nonleague victory. The Bears (3-1) led at half, 32-20, as Blake Henry led the way with 13 points and Eric Norton had seven. Jared Lucian had eight points for the Knights (0-4) to keep it close.

In the second half, the Knights cut their deficit to eight points, but M-A closed out the game with a smothering defense to win by 21. Henry ended up with 17 for the Bears. Norton had nine while Christian Fioretti finished with eight points and three assists. Lucian led the Knights with 12 points.

In San Jose, Palo Alto (4-0) advanced to the finals of the DJ Frandsen Memorial Tournament at Bellarmine Prep with a 66-46 victory over Sacred Heart Prep. Miles Tention led the Vikings with 15 points with Justin Hull adding 10. Connor Moses had 16 points for the Gators (1-5), who are still missing starters still playing football.

In a game that went back and forth, host Menlo-Atherton held off rival Menlo School, 44-42, in nonleague action. Menlo (3-2) pulled away from a one-point first-quarter lead and stretched its advantage to seven at the half with Hannah Paye hitting two 3-pointers and Olivia Pellarin rebounding and scoring in the paint. Pellarin finished with 12 rebounds.

In the third quarter, M-A (5-2) got its low-post game going as Ilana Baer and Carly McLanahan fed Greer Hoyem, who drew fouls and scored 10 of her 14 points in the third. The game remained close in the fourth with M-A's Ofa Sili scoring in the paint and Paye hitting a pair of 3s to equalize for the Knights. Paye finished with 14 points. With 24 seconds left, Hoyem drew a foul and converted both free throws to give M-A the lead. The Bears' Megan Sparrow stole the ball with 14 seconds remaining to put the game away.

Also in Atherton, senior guard Riley Hemm tossed in 17 points as host Sacred Heart Prep rolled to a 58-43 nonleague victory over Priory and remained undefeated in six games this season. The Panthers (2-2) actually held the lead after one quarter before the Gators began pulling away in the second period.

Hemm finished with a trio of 3-pointers and Grace Battles added two while scoring 10 points. Ma'ata Makoni tossed in 13 points for the Gators while Tatiana Reese had 21 points and seven rebounds for Priory and 6-foot-3 freshman Ila Lane added 11 points and six boards.

The Castilleja at Mills game was cancelled.

Boys soccer

Menlo School opened the De La Salle Showcase with a 3-0 victory over Acalanes on Friday in Concord. The Knights (3-1) created a few chances early down the right wing through senior striker Will Chisholm and senior captain Andrew Arnold, but failed to capitalize. Acalanes came back into the game as the half wore on and threatened with some long throw-ins.

A few minutes before halftime, Menlo found a breakthrough. Chisholm got the ball, turned his defender and found freshman winger Ben Lasky on the right hand side. Lasky beat his defender and scored with a thundering strike from outside the box that left the keeper no chance. Energized by the late goal, Menlo started the second half well.

Midway through the half, the Knights doubled their lead when senior winger Tyler McGraw found Chisholm, who beat his defender and finished left- footed into the side netting. Chisholm added another in the dying minutes after a great thru ball from senior captain Michael Quezada. Menlo got strong performances from senior defender Kian Seddighnezhad and junior midfielder Daniel Hausen.

In Redwood City, Sacred Heart Prep boys came up with a big offensive showing, but the defense wasn't so solid as the Gators battled to a 4-4 stalemate in nonleague action. Sequoia grabbed a 3-2 halftime lead with SHP getting goals from Connor Johnston (assist Josh Lin) and Sasha Novitsky (assist Matthew MacFarquhar). The Gators (1-1-2) won the second half as Trevor Peay (assist Peter Love) and AJ Hamer (penalty kick drawn by Lin) provided the goals.

Girls soccer

Sacred Heart Prep senior Tierna Davidson returned to the Gators following a stint with the U.S. U-20 National Team and made an immediate impact by scoring three goals in a 3-2 nonleague victory over host Santa Clara on Friday night.

Davidson scored an unassisted goal in the 34th minute for the Gators (2-3) before adding her second, also unassisted, in the 40th minute. She completed her hat trick in the 67th minute off an assist from Cameron Gordon.

Davidson missed SHP's opening matches while helping the U-20 squad win the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The Americans won the title with a 1-0 victory over Canada. Davidson started as a defender. The USA qualified for the 2016 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea.

Short story writers wanted!
The 33rd Annual Palo Alto Weekly Short Story Contest is now accepting entries for Adult, Young Adult (15-17) and Teen (12-14) categories. Send us your short story (2,500 words or less) and entry form by March 29. First, Second and Third Place prizes awarded in each category.